site banner
naraburns  nihil supernum  3mo ago (text post)   5749 thread views

Quality Contributions Report for April 2026

This is the Quality Contributions Roundup. It showcases interesting and well-written comments and posts from the period covered. If you want to get an idea of what this community is about or how we want you to participate, look no further (except the rules maybe--those might be important too).

As a reminder, you can nominate Quality Contributions by hitting the report button and selecting the "Actually A Quality Contribution!" option. Additionally, links to all of the roundups can be found in the wiki of /r/theThread which can be found here. For a list of other great community content, see here.

These are mostly chronologically ordered, but I have in some cases tried to cluster comments by topic so if there is something you are looking for (or trying to avoid), this might be helpful.

Quality Contributions to the Main Motte

@naraburns:

@TitaniumButterfly:

@orthoxerox:

@charlesf:

@solowingpixy:

@OliveTapenade:

Contributions for the week of March 30, 2026

@Amadan:

@thejdizzler:

Contributions for the week of April 6, 2026

@birb_cromble:

@Rov_Scam:

@RandomRanger:

@BigObjectPermanenceShill:

@EverythingIsFine:

@OliveTapenade:

@ControlsFreak:

@IdiocyInAction:

@CrispyFriedBarnacles:

@SpringFish:

@Shakes:

Contributions for the week of April 13, 2026

@cjet79:

@faceh:

@RandomRanger:

Contributions for the week of April 20, 2026

@self_made_human:

@Rov_Scam:

@Bombadil:

@Amadan:

@CrispyFriedBarnacles:

@urquan:

Contributions for the week of April 27, 2026

@RandomRanger:

@MonkeyWithAMachinegun:

@AmrikeeAkbar:

4
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

beyond a fondness for biryani.

Can you change my view that Biryani is just crappy fried rice?

Biryani shouldn't really be like fried rice. The texture is different (biryani rice is less likely to stick together than fried rice), and of course the flavors are very different. What they have around me (I'm in Denver) is mostly Hyderabad style biryani, which is spicy and has a delicious fragrance that fried rice never really would have. My general advice on where to find good biryani is to see if there's anywhere that tends to have lots of Indian immigrants eating there. It might not be the best on the planet, but immigrants tend to eat at restaurants that are doing the cuisine correctly in my experience.

Many cultures have a 'brothy meaty rice' dish that needs a ton of effort to get right. When done right, that dish is the best. When done wrong, it is crappy fried rice.

Eg:

  • Hainanese Chicken rice
  • Paella valenciana
  • Biryani

Each dish is labor intensive and needs experience to get right. I've had the privilege of trying some of the best versions of each dish. If your Biryani tastes like crappy fried rice, it is crappy Biryani. Same for Paella and Chicken Rice.

Mutton Biryani no, one of the GREATEST fooD eveR IvEnTeD in the worlD

Amen

I got sick of bad Biryani in the US and [made it myself](link na). No humility for this one. Took a ton of effort, and I bet it was the best Biryani in the city that day.

I now understand why restaurant Biryani sucks. Unless you're a dedicated Biryani shop (which only happens in India), you can't justify the effort it takes to make good Biryani. It took me about 2 days, start to finish.

And then the "Indian" restaurant I ordered from yesterday served it with peas.

@self_made_human , that's a war crime.

there's regional variation. Pakistani biryani is different, so is the Afghan kind. There's like half a dozen other variants from India

This variation is meaningful.

Lucknowi Biryani (Canonical North Indian Biryani) is meant to be aromatic, umami and fragrant. Hyderabadi Biryani (Canonical South Indian Biryani) is meant to be spicy, indulgent and saucier. I made Hyderabadi Biryani, it is my favorite. The other variations involve different types of rice (Kerala), adding potatoes (Bengali), and raisins (Karachi. This is haram).

Unfortunately, Indian restaurants in the west are mostly run by Punjabi & Bangla people. Neither regions are good at Biryani.

We have loads of biryani shops in the Bay Area, fwiw. I don't go to them because as a rule they look absolutely filthy, but we do have them.

Nope. Havent had great biryani in the Bay area. I'm an expert on the matter.

Great udipi food (madhurai idli). Good Pakistani food (zareens). Good experimental Indian (copra). Surprisingly acceptable marathi food (pav bhaji food truck, puranpoli) acceptable indo-chinese (inchins bamboo garden).

There are a few schizo places that are a 8/10 or 2/10 and no in-between. Highly unreliable, but pretty good on a good day. Eg- Aaha in Mission for Telugu/chettinad food. They make the least bad biryani in SF on a good day. Let's just say their sanitation standards are in line with the rest of the mission.

No standout north Indian or mughlai places that I know of.

P.s: while I'm talking about Indian places in the Bay. Fuck Rooh. Bad food and expensive.

I'm talking San Jose specifically, but regardless I'm not suggesting it's any good. Only that we do have dedicated biryani shops.

The lamb biryani at Dish & Dash used to be pretty good but has declined over the years

That looks like some pretty legit biryani. Could I trouble you to write up a recipe?

You must have had bad biryani. This is understandable, since the best stuff is only truly available in India.

Even in the UK, I've struggled to find anything as good as what I was used to at home. The best I've found is acceptable, it's biryani-shaped and roughly tastes like biryani. And then the "Indian" restaurant I ordered from yesterday served it with peas.

Fucking peas. I haven't been as flabbergasted since I tried lasagna with peas in it. Why not just piss in my mouth instead? I'd probably enjoy that more, in all honesty.

Of course, there's regional variation. Pakistani biryani is different, so is the Afghan kind. There's like half a dozen other variants from India. The one I'm most fond of can't be found anywhere nearby, for love or money.

I believe @DirtyWaterHotDog mentioned finding actually appetizing biryani in the States, he might be able to guide you better.

.... I think I'm just a heathen, I've been to the few places in the US with legit stuff and still meh

For the sake of my mental health, I'll assume that you've just had really bad luck. If I moved to the States and never managed to find decent biryani? I'd self-deport.

I think I'm just expecting it to taste like fried rice and it doesn't. Might be an expectation thing.

Yeah, it really shouldn't taste like fried rice, in the same sense that fried rice shouldn't taste like risotto.

it really shouldn't taste like fried rice

You mean like....good?

Man... who the fuck serves biryani with peas? I'm not even Indian and I know that's a food crime. It reminds me of the SNL black jeopardy skit where they talk about a white woman making potato salad, and say "she probably put something unnecessary in, like raisins". You have my sympathies.

You sir, are a gentleman, a scholar, and possibly a gourmet too.

Yeah. British mushy peas can stay in the dishes where they belong.

At any rate, I love biryani lol. Without peas. We used to have a great biryani place here in town - if you went for lunch you could get biryani, the curry of the day, some boneless chicken appetizer, naan, and gulab jamun, all for only $12 or so. Truly the restaurant of the gods. Unfortunately they went out of business, and I've yet to find anything on their level since. Probably good for my body, but less good for my soul.

if you went for lunch you could get biryani, the curry of the day, some boneless chicken appetizer, naan, and gulab jamun, all for only $12 or so.

Unfortunately they went out of business,

I'm not a restaurateur, but I think I can draw the line between these two statements.

Perhaps. But they were in business for years and years with the lunch special, so I have a hard time envisioning that it was that which did them in.

  1. The site blocks the UK for
  2. Using a VPN, I seem to see that the link is down.

Oh well, I can only imagine the masterful quality of your biryani, while settling for bastardized versions to be found in Anglo lands.

Here is an alt link - na

It looks absolutely delicious, but I must complain about portion sizes. That's the quantity I'd feed a teenage girl, a real man needs twice as much, especially after all that work haha.

How dare you! There were 2 pots of Biryani, and I invited the whole town.

Some ingredient proportions for scale.

Redact3d

I'll probably do it again this summer. I'll take proper photos this time around.

And now you're cooking with gas brother. In fact, you've made me incredibly hungry just looking at that, but I will resist the urge by thinking of England (and whatever passes for biryani in the wider UK).

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats